On Tap in the Capitol, Feb. 12

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL JUSTICE APPROPS: The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee reviews base budgets and agency budget requests for the court system and public attorneys, the clerks of court, and various other judiciary related budget items. (9 a.m., 37 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.)

SENATE EDUCATION BUDGET: The Senate Education Appropriations Committee continues its base budget review and hearing from agencies on appropriations requests. The panel also gets an update on the implementation of last year's HB 7135, which required certain metrics, goals and plans for state universities and colleges. (9 a.m., 412 Knott Building, The Capitol.)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development takes up a measure (SB 406) by Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, that attempts to put more oversight on Florida’s economic development efforts. The panel will also get briefed on the governor’s budget proposal. (9 a.m., 110 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE

HOUSE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SUB: The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee hears a bill dealing with standards for how juvenile justice workers treat children in their care (HB 353) and measures dealing with police officers who work for colleges (HB 399) and railroads (HB 489). Another measure before the committee (HB 407) would bring tougher penalties on previously convicted gang members if they’re caught trespassing in school zones. (9 a.m., 404 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE ENERGY AND UTILITIES: PRIVATE WATER, SEWER SYSTEMS: Florida Public Service Commission member Julie Brown will give a presentation to the House Energy & Utilities Subcommittee about privately owned water and wastewater systems. Brown is the chairwoman of a committee created by the Legislature to address issues related to private utilities and their customers. (9:30 a.m., 212 Knott Building, the Capitol.)

HOUSE ED APPROPS: The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee hears presentations from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, public television stations and the University of Miami Launch Pad Program. (9:30 a.m., 17 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTABILITY: The House Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee hears a presentation by Enterprise Florida on evaluation of economic development incentives. (9:30 a.m., 102 House Office Building.)

HOUSE HEALTH BUDGET PANEL HEARS FROM AGENCIES: The House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee will hear overviews of the budgets of the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Also, the panel will receive information about substance-abuse and mental-health programs. (1:30 p.m., 212 Knott Building, the Capitol.)

HOUSE: SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY: The House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee holds a workshop on the state’s education accountability system. (1:30 p.m., 404 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE AGRICULTURE AND NAT RESOURCES: The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee takes up a bill dealing with consumptive use permits for alternative water supply development (HB 109) and hears a presentation on planning for the state's future water supply. The panel also takes up the industry bills for the Department of Citrus (HB 137) and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (HB 333) as well as a bill (HB 203) expanding which government agencies are covered by the 2003 Agricultural Lands and Practices Act, which prohibits the adoption of regulations or laws that limit farm operation on certain lands if they're already covered by other governments' or agencies' rules. (1:30 p.m., 102 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE GOV OPS: WHAT DOES THE STATE OWN?: For a couple years state officials were pestered by former Sen. J.D. Alexander and others to report to lawmakers exactly what property holdings the state had. And repeatedly, they weren’t able to satisfy lawmakers with the answer. So in 2010 the Legislature required the development of a database to record and maintain the inventory of real estate "owned, leased, rented, or otherwise occupied" by any state government entity. The Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Management Services have been collaborating on the project and will give lawmakers an overview of the new system Tuesday in the House Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. The system already tracks facilities, and is scheduled this month to begin tracking all state lands. (1:30 p.m., 17 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

HOUSE TRANS TALKS DISTRACTED DRIVERS: The House Transportation and Highway Safety Committee discusses "driver distraction issues," though the panel isn't currently scheduled to take up any bills Tuesday. (1:30 p.m., 306 House Office Building, The Capitol.)

SENATE AFTERNOON

COMMUNICATION SERVICES TAX: The Senate Finance and Tax Committee will be briefed on the governor’s proposed tax package, which include sales tax exemptions for equipment used in manufacturing and an expansion of corporate income tax exemptions.. The panel will also get an update from the Communications Services Tax working group, which issued a report Feb. 1 that calls for abolition of the communications services tax and replacing the revenue with a higher sales tax. (2 p.m., 37 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.)

WORKERS COMP, STORM RISK, BUDGET: The Senate General Government Approps Committee hears budget requests from the Department of Citrus, the Division of Administrative Hearings, and the Office of Financial Regulation. The committee also hears the Workers Compensation Annual Report from the Office of Insurance Regulation and a presentation on catastrophic storm risk management. (2 p.m., 110 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.)

ADOPTION, COMMUNITY-BASED CARE DISCUSSED: The Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee will hear presentations about maintenance-adoption subsidies and community-based care agencies, which are local groups that play an important role in the state’s child-safety and foster-care systems. Also, the panel will hear a presentation about area agencies on aging. (2 p.m., 412 Knott Building, the Capitol.)

STATE OF THE UNION: The President shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the State of the Union, says the U.S. Constitution. The time for President Obama to do so will be tonight. Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will give the Republican response following the president's remarks. (9 p.m.)

COURT DIALS UP ONLINE TRAVEL: The 1st District Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear arguments in a long-running dispute about the amounts of hotel-bed taxes paid by online-travel companies such as Expedia. Numerous counties allege that online-travel companies have not paid as much as they should, but a Leon County circuit judge sided with the industry. (9 a.m., 1st District Court of Appeal, 2000 Drayton Dr., Tallahassee.)

ODOM PLEA: Panhandle developer Jay Odom is expected to enter a plea in federal court on federal campaign finance violations. Odom is charged in connections with illegal contributions to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2007. (11 a.m., U.S. District Court, One N. Palafox St., Pensacola.)

RACE TO THE TOP: The Race to the Top Teacher and Leader Preparation Implementation Committee will meet today and Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale. The committee will review school leadership preparation program data and begin determining performance measures for Florida school leadership preparation programs. (12 p.m., Florida Atlantic University – Fort Lauderdale, Board of Trustees Room – HEC 1110, 111 East Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.)

SFWMD EVALUATES LAND HOLDINGS: The South Florida Water Management District is in the process of evaluating every parcel of its nearly 1.5 million acres of land in 16 counties aimed at determining whether it still needs the land. The evaluation, which is going on in each of the five water management districts, is currently considering the 750,000 acres that the agency fully owns outright. SFWMD staff will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday in Osceola County to provide information on the assessment process. (2 p.m., St. Cloud Field Station, 3800 Old Canoe Creek Rd., St. Cloud.)

GAETZ, WEATHERFORD SPEAK IN TALLAHASSEE: Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford speak in the Holy Comforter Episcopal School Lecture Series. They'll give a legislative preview. The free lecture is open to the public. (7 p.m., Holy Comforter Episcopal School, 2001 Fleischmann Rd., Tallahassee.)

SCOTT

Gov. Rick Scott is in Tallahassee today and has meetings with DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard, and separate individual meetings with Sens. Maria Sachs and John Legg and Reps. Janet Adkins, John Wood and Larry Lee.

Last modified: February 12, 2013
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